The results of the 2025 Deep Wild Journal Student Writing Contest are in! Contest judges Chelsea Catherine and John Nizalowski have selected the following writers for their work:
FIRST PLACE, $200
Colleen Alles
MFA Candidate in Creative Writing–Poetry, Spalding University, Louisville, Kentucky
for her poem “Left to Wonder”
RUNNERS UP, $100 each
Michelle Chen
Stony Brook University, New York, for her essay “Journey to the Frozen North”
Wrendolyn Klotzko
State University of New York, Oswego for her poems, “A Winter Soliloquy,” “The Seasons’ Undersides,” “The Banshee Owl”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
The following student writers, poets all, received Honorable Mentions for their work:
Marie Burdett, University of St. Thomas
Hayley Burgess, Sarah Lawrence College
Shelli Rottschafer, Western Colorado University
The top three pieces will appear in the 2025 issue of Deep Wild Journal, to be released this June, while the Honorable Mentions will be published later this year on the Deep Wild website.
Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to all the student writers from throughout the United States and beyond who sent us work.
Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry is the home for creative work inspired by journeys to places where there are no roads. To learn more, and to order a copy, visit deepwildjournal.com
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